Disrupting Our Attention For Good

Today I have two separate thoughts that, I hope, intersect in a hopeful, meaningful way for you. 

Attention
I’m reading Flourish by Daniel Coyle this week. The subtitle is The Art of Building Meaning, Joy, and Fulfillment. I wasn’t sure what to expect, honestly, because I’m sometimes put off by things that are just a bit too earnest, but it’s not, and I’m really enjoying it. 

A sentence that stood out to me, quoting British philosopher Iain McGilchrist: “The type of attention we bring to the world changes the world we find.”

The type of attention we bring to the world changes the world we find. 

Advocacy is a long game
I shared a little cartoon a couple of years ago on Facebook: 

Two people are standing in a garden. One says to the other, “Aren’t you worried what next year will bring? Everything is so crazy these days.” The other replies, “I think it will bring flowers.” “Oh, really? Why?” “Because I’m planting flowers.”

In 2023, we were told by the government that the main reason that Manitobans had the highest rates of hepatitis C in the country was, I kid you not, “patient noncompliance.” 

We knew that was BS, so we flew into Winnipeg, drove 8 hours north, and attended a harm reduction peer gathering in the parking lot of an arena in The Pas. That’s where a young, gay, Indigenous man who uses drugs told me that he has known he has hepatitis C for a few years, but the government will only pay for him to be treated one time, so he’s going to wait until he’s done using drugs, and then he will cure his Hep C. 

Up in The Pas, this man was making a strategic life decision with the information he had. But when he skipped the telehealth appointment with the “hepatitis investigation unit” in Winnipeg since he was going to “save” his treatment for later, it was understood as patient noncompliance. A classic unintended outcome of a policy that rations hepatitis C medication for people who “deserve” it. (I can tell you the racism is next-level in Manitoba, but it’s really something you have to see for yourself to believe.) 

We gathered stories like this all week and went back down to Winnipeg to share our findings with the government on World Hepatitis Day. It was…impactful. And it was the beginning of working with some good people (and working around some jerks) to make important changes. 

We have been working on policy barriers in Manitoba for two and a half years now, chipping away, one small win at a time. 

Then. Last week, the Manitoba Harm Reduction Network held a 3-day test-and-treat event in Swan River. Swan River has been in a hepatitis C outbreak for years, and despite our best efforts, barrier after barrier meant that eager and willing people could not get treated. But enough policies had changed by this spring that point-of-care tests could be used and their results accepted, meaning diagnoses could happen same-day instead of waiting for lab results, and prescriptions could be given. Also, a family doctor could write the prescriptions, instead of one of three hepatologists in the province. Much lower barrier. This event could not have even happened three years ago.

So, 44 people were tested, and 37 were HCV-positive with active infection. (That’s bananas, by the way.) Almost all of them were able to start treatment within 2 days. They’ll take a daily pill for 8 weeks (supports are in place to help that happen), and they’ll be cured. 

Obviously, I can take only partial credit, but at the risk of sounding corny (and maybe a bit too earnest), we planted some stubborn little advocacy flowers in 2023, and as the snow melts in 2026, they are finally blooming. 

So today I’m paying attention to this. 

I’m carefully reconnecting and thanking the middle managers, bureaucrats, and community workers who played a part in getting us here. 

I’m helping to document this win so we can share it widely with other communities. 

And I’m thinking about all the other stubborn little advocacy flowers I have planted all OVER the country that I thought hadn’t taken root, but might bloom when I least expect them. 

I’m also paying attention to the positive energy buzzing off everyone who was involved in this test-and-treat event. They are so excited and engaged and ready for the next one. They set out to organize an event, but it would appear they also found meaning, joy, and fulfillment in being part of it. 

So yeah. We never know what wonderful things may come out of our efforts. But we can be mindful of where we put our attention, and it will shape the world we find. 

​